Vijai grills govt on Fatorda sports complex

PORVORIM: Fatorda MLA Vijay Sardesai on Thursday alleged that although the government was spending 46 crore on the Fatordasports complex, it was not taking opposition MLAs into confidence.
The heated debate prompted sports minister Ramesh Tawadkar to assure that he would make Fatorda the "best ground" for the Lusofonia games. The debate also forced the intervention of chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who dismissed Sardesai's contention that the local MLA should have been taken into confidence because taxpayer's money was involved.
But Parrikar said that Sardesai could visit the Fatorda site and check it to his heart's content. Parrikar also offered to give Sardesai copies of all documents he wanted.
Not to be outdone, the sports minister also came out with his own riposte. He said that the last Congress government had prepared a 92 crore estimate for the renovation of Fatorda and that the BJP government had shown prudence by reducing it to 46 crore.